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Is Norfolk Southern's Stock Cheap?

Let's take a look.

Numbers can lie -- but they're the best first step in determining whether a stock is a buy. In this series, we use some carefully chosen metrics to size up a stock's true value based on the following clues:

The current price multiples.

The consistency of past earnings and cash flow.

How much growth we can expect.

Let's see what those numbers can tell us about how expensive or cheap Norfolk Southern(NYSE: NSC) might be.

The current price multiplesFirst, we'll look at most investors' favorite metric: the P/E ratio. It divides the company's share price by its earnings per share (EPS) -- the lower, the better.

Then, we'll take things up a notch with a more advanced metric: enterprise value to unlevered free cash flow. This divides the company's enterprise value (basically, its market cap plus its debt, minus its cash) by its unlevered free cash flow (its free cash flow, adding back the interest payments on its debt). Like the P/E, the lower this number is, the better.

Analysts argue about which is more important -- earnings or cash flow. Who cares? A good buy ideally has low multiples on both.

Norfolk Southern has a P/E ratio of 16.2 and an EV/FCF ratio of 25.4 over the trailing 12 months. If we stretch and compare current valuations to the five-year averages for earnings and free cash flow, Norfolk Southern has a P/E ratio of 17.6 and a five-year EV/FCF ratio of 24.7.

A positive one-year ratio under 10 for both metrics is ideal. For a five-year metric, under 20 is ideal.

Norfolk Southern has a mixed performance in hitting the ideal targets, but let's see how it compares against some competitors and industry mates.

Additionally, over the last five years, Norfolk Southern has tallied up five years of positive earnings and five years of positive free cash flow.

Next, let's figure out ...

How much growth we can expectAnalysts tend to comically overstate their five-year growth estimates. If you accept them at face value, you willoverpay for stocks. But while you should definitely take the analysts' prognostications with a grain of salt, they can still provide a useful starting point when compared to similar numbers from a company's closest rivals.

Let's start by seeing what this company's done over the past five years. In that time period, Norfolk Southern has put up past EPS growth rates of 4.7%. Meanwhile, Wall Street's analysts expect future growth rates of 12.8%.

Here's how Norfolk Southern compares to its peers for trailing-five-year growth:

The bottom lineThe pile of numbers we've plowed through has shown us the price multiples that shares of Norfolk Southern are trading at, the volatility of its operational performance, and what kind of growth profile it has -- both on an absolute and a relative basis.

The more consistent a company's performance has been and the more growth we can expect, the more we should be willing to pay. We've gone well beyond looking at a 16.2 P/E ratio and the numbers look solid all around. Current prices aren't screamingly cheap, but combined with the initial numbers they appear reasonable. If you find Norfolk Southern's numbers or story compelling, don't stop. Continue your due diligence process until you're confident one way or the other. As a start, add it to My Watchlist to find all of our Foolish analysis.

To see the stocks that I've researched beyond the initial numbers and bought in my public real-money portfolio, click here.